


wipe your slate clean

by suspirium



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: HIAC 2017 spoilers, Kayfabe Compliant, M/M, Post-HIAC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 13:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12321975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suspirium/pseuds/suspirium
Summary: “Hey, wait.” Finn scrambles up on to his knees, turning backwards on the couch to face Sami. Sami freezes, looking in the direction of the couch but not at Finn’s face.Finn holds out a hand, beckoning with his fingers. “Come here.”





	wipe your slate clean

It’s not that he hadn’t known it was a problem. 

It’s that, for as much as he knew it was a problem, he hadn’t expected it would manifest quite like this.

Finn drives down to Detroit Sunday morning to spend the night with Sami. He knows Sami’s upset about not being a part of Hell in a Cell, is upset about his career on Smackdown as a whole, and Finn is doing his best to be there for him however he can. So they get a hotel room, a fairly nice one, and Finn gets there as fast as he fucking can. 

They spend the day together and there’s a lot on Sami’s mind, but he’s kind to Finn ( _of course he is, it’s_ Sami) and affectionate. He holds Finn’s hand, smiles when Finn kisses him _._ Shivers when Finn speaks low in his ear.  

Still, the day goes on and the mood shifts. They go back to the hotel and Sami is practically vibrating out of his skin. He’s been quiet all day and Finn was more than fine with that earlier, but they haven’t spoken at all in the past hour or so. Finn knows it isn’t him and he isn’t mad, but still. This isn’t familiar. He wants to help but he’s not sure how to handle this.  

Hell in a Cell starts in an hour and Sami hasn’t mentioned it yet, but Finn knows him. He knows he’s been distracted, knows he won’t stop thinking about it. So Finn sits on the pullout couch, his back to the rest of the room and listens to Sami move around in the bedroom. 

“I think I’m gonna head down for a little bit,” Sami says, and Finn turns around to see him pulling on a hoodie. He’s changed his clothes, putting on a pair of jeans and one of his shirts. Finn knows that shirt, knows it well. He has one of his own but he’s always stealing Sami’s; wears it to sleep when Sami’s not around, wears it when Sami _is_ around to get a rise out of him. 

He thinks about it now. Thinks about Sami picking him up and tossing him on the bed, trailing his lips from Finn’s collarbones to his hips. Thinks about wrapping his legs around Sami’s waist, pulling him closer and closer and harder and deeper. Thinks about how Finn’s here and they could have the night together when they have so many nights apart, but Sami’s mind is somewhere else. 

“Okay,” Finn says, choosing not to push. He knows how good it is for Sami to make an appearance at these things, even if it’s only for backstage support. He knows how horribly Sami wants to be a part of this. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Sami shakes his head, avoiding his eyes. “I’ll be okay,” he says, but his fingers are trembling as Finn watches him tie up his shoes. He straightens up and heads towards the door. “I’ll be back-“

“Hey, wait.” Finn scrambles up on to his knees, turning backwards on the couch to face Sami. Sami freezes, looking in the direction of the couch but not at Finn’s face.

Finn holds out a hand, beckoning with his fingers. “Come here.”

Sami takes a few steps towards him, until Finn can reach out and grasp the sleeve of his hoodie with his fingertips. He grabs at his collar with his other hand, tugging Sami down to meet him. Sami finally lifts his eyes to look at his face. 

“You look handsome today,” Finn says with a grin, running his fingers down the side of Sami’s face. His hand continues its path down Sami’s chest, stopping to tug at the bottom of his shirt. Sami huffs out a small laugh. 

Finn hesitates, ducking his head to watch his fingers worry at Sami’s t-shirt. “Are you okay?,” he asks. There’s a pause as Sami traces a finger over the back of Finn’s hand. Finn looks up at him through his eyelashes, watching the conflict flash across Sami’s face. Sami meets his eyes a second later and can only offer a sad half smile with a shrug. 

Finn nods. “Can I kiss you?” 

Sami’s face transforms into something fond and affectionate, and although Finn is the one to shift closer, Sami initiates the kiss itself. It’s sweet and gentle, but not chaste, and Finn can’t help but place on hand on his face to pull him closer. Eventually, Sami pulls away but Finn is allowed a few breaths to compose himself, eyes shut and fingers against Sami’s jaw. 

“Come home soon,” he murmurs, and Sami nods in return. He can feel Sami trembling against his body, and Finn is worried, he’s so worried, but there’s nothing for him to do but step back and let him go. 

“I love you, Sami,” and then Sami is pressing a kiss to Finn’s temple and walking out the door. 

 

_______________________________________

 

 

Hell in a Cell is long, or feels long, and while Finn is doing his best to focus, it’s hard not to get antsy when his mind is on other things. He wants to see Kevin and Shane’s match, wants to know how it ends because Sami is invested and Finn is invested, but mostly he just wants it to be over so that all this is done and Sami will come home ( _and he knows the hotel isn’t home but a hotel with Sami doesn’t feel like a hotel, it feels like home because_ Sami _is home and the ‘where’ doesn’t really matter to Finn anymore_ ). It’ll be over and maybe Shane will admit Sami was right and maybe Sami will get a rematch against Kevin, or at least a _chance_ , any kind of chance because it’s what he deserves.  

Maybe not.

Either way, the match comes and Finn is glued, he is, but he’s also fidgeting because the cell makes him nervous and the animosity of the match is definitely not helping and he looks at Kevin and Kevin’s absolute hatred and all he can think about is Sami on the receiving end of it. So he mostly just wishes it would be over.

And it is, almost, he can recognize that. He watches Kevin fall off the cell and he winces, but then he watches Shane climb the cell and he practically covers his eyes. He’s shifting in his seat, his body tensing as if preparing for his own fall and then -

And then Kevin is gone. He’s not watching Kevin, he’s watching Shane but then Shane falls and Kevin is flying out of the way and Finn doesn’t see him but he _knows_ and the only thing Finn can do is freeze. Then the camera is on Shane, swarmed by refs and paramedics on the ground before it swings around and there he is.  

There’s Sami. His Sami. ‘ _You look so handsome,’_ Finn had said, and he still was but now it _hurts._ He’s beautiful, beautiful Sami but he looks conflicted and scared and angry, and this Sami looks like his handsome Sami, but it’s not.  

Finn is still frozen, but his mind is moving a mile a minute. He’s watching Sami drag Kevin over and throw down a ref and he’s wondering how he could have missed this coming. Why he didn’t know it had gone this far. It was bad, he knew it was bad, but this? Finn knew nothing about this. 

  

_______________________________________

 

 

He’s in the bedroom when he comes home. 

Finn waits for what feels like hours, perched on the edge of the bed with his elbows resting on his knees, twisting and twining his fingers while he _waits and waits and waits._ It doesn’t feel right to text or call, doesn’t feel right to force himself into Sami’s head until Sami comes to him instead.

There’s a knot in his chest that asks him what he would do if Sami just didn’t come back at all.

But finally, faithfully, he comes, the room so silent Finn can hear the tone of the keycard before the door itself. He waits, but there’s only the door closing and a few steps and total silence. Finn pauses, breathes, before slowly pushing himself off the end of the bed and rising to his feet. One more moment to prepare and then a few steps to take him to the open doorway. 

Sami’s there. Sami’s there, _of course he’s there,_ but to see him is different. To have him so close and yet so fearfully, unreachably far is different. But Finn loves him and he can fix this. 

Can he fix this? 

Finn lets his fingers rest lightly against the doorframe, shifting nervously on his feet. He takes in everything he can; Sami’s white-knuckle grip on the top of the chair, the tense, angry hunch of his back. The way he hangs his head in frustration and sorrow. How Finn stares at his profile and aches for Sami to lift his chin and turn to look at him.

He wonders if Sami is as nervous about facing him as Finn is about seeing Sami. 

His heart feels like it’s going to burst out of his chest; leave his body a crumpled heap in the doorway while it races to Sami and clings to his pant leg and tugs and tugs and begs and pleads. He wants to run to him and cling to him the same way; to tell him ‘y _ou’re still Sami, I still love you, I love you, I love you, I know you, we can get through this. You’re everything to me’._ Instead he stares at Sami’s profile and hopelessly prays that he’ll open his eyes and come to Finn instead.

His fingers flex against the doorway before he steadies himself with a firm grasp. 

“Sami?” 

Sami’s eyes clench tighter and his face turns slightly away from the direction of Finn’s voice. Finn can’t keep himself from moving, rolling through his feet to unintentionally make himself quieter. He approaches gingerly and stretches his fingers in a desperate attempt to reach out, hovering over Sami’s knuckles but backing down before he can actually make contact. 

“Sami,” he says again, and Finn can’t help himself anymore, tucking himself in close at Sami’s side. His right hand moves to Sami’s bicep, the tips of his left fingers reaching out to the far side of his face. He can feel the coarse hair of Sami’s beard under a couple of his fingers, the smooth, warm skin of his cheek under the others. His thumb lands lightly over Sami’s mouth where it moves softly against dry, familiar lips. 

Finn tilts forward, pressing his forehead to Sami’s temple. He takes a deep, shuddering breath as the hand touching Sami’s face moves up to cup his cheek. Slowly, Sami’s hand comes to rest on top of it.

Finn’s heart soars at the contact. With closed eyes, he turns to press a kiss to Sami’s jaw, then another by his ear. Sami finally turns towards him and Finn doesn’t even consider moving back, choosing instead to let his nose drag across Sami’s cheekbone until the two are forehead to forehead. He lets the hand already on Sami’s face push back through grown-out hair, resting comfortingly as his other hand comes up to meet it.

Finn feels Sami’s hands come rest on his hips. They’re tentative at first, but something seems to click into place in Sami’s head and his grip becomes a little firmer, a little more desperate. He’s finally _there_ and Finn can feel pressure building behind his eyes in relief.

“It’s okay, Sami,” he says softly. He focuses all his energy on a level, reassuring tone. “It’s going to be okay,” and he places a delicate kiss on the very corner of Sami’s mouth. 

There’s a wet, trembling catch to Sami’s next breath and Finn _aches_ , feeling the hitch in his own breathing as Sami ducks his head to hide his face in Finn’s neck. Sami’s hands move from Finn’s hips to wrap his arms around Finn’s waist, and Finn allows his own to cover Sami’s shoulders and hold his head close.  

He can feel Sami’s breathing pick up, a quiet dampness transferring from Sami’s eyes to his neck. “I love you,” Finn whispers, “I love you and I’m so sorry.” He presses his lips into Sami’s hair, speaking directly against his skin. “But we’re gonna get through this, I’m gonna help you through this.”  

Sami’s sobbing now, his hands clutching Finn’s ribs and Finn is sad and sorry and _hurt._ He’s hurt that they’ve done this to Sami, to sweet, talented Sami, who's given these people everything and he’s hurt that Sami, who's only ever wanted what’s right, has been pushed and ignored to the point of breaking and doing what’s wrong ( _is it wrong, is it wrong, because it doesn’t feel that wrong but it feels like something_ Sami _would think was wrong)_ and he’s hurt that even though Finn took it seriously, even though it made Finn’s heart _break_ and he did everything he could to give Sami that support he needed, he obviously still missed something, obviously still didn’t see exactly what kind of toll this was taking. And now here they were. 

He rocks Sami a little on his feet, shushes him as he cries. The pressure behind his eyes is brutal now, and he can’t help but let a few tears escape. Finn knows how talented Sami is, understands his frustration because he feels it, too. He wants Sami on pay-per-views, in championship matches, fighting in matches longer than five minutes. He wants him on _Raw,_ with Finn always by his side. 

He wants to not feel like something is missing in his own success because the love of his life is getting buried week after week. 

Gradually, Sami settles. The sobbing subsides, even as he keeps shaking, but Finn doesn’t move from his position. He just strokes Sami’s hair, hums a little bit against his skin. 

“I love you, Sami,” he says one more time. Because he has to. Finn has to make sure he knows. 

Sami’s arms tighten around him again, hands pressing flat against Finn’s back. Finn feels him lift his head. Feels a kiss placed under his ear. 

Finn turns his head, nuzzling his nose gently against Sami’s. They take each other in, center one another. It’s quiet. It’s calm.

They breathe.


End file.
